One Shot
by sanzopriestess
Summary: This is a series of oneshots involving the Varia, The Shimon, the Vongola, the Cavallone Families, and many others, all of which have been gathered by Reborn so that Tsuna may thank them for helping him when he needed it. Its what happens before and after the speech that really matters. (Cannonxoc)(Emma,Spaner, Lambo,Belphegor,Squalo, Dino and, more to come)
1. The Intro and Lambo

Hello there readers, this is a series of oneshots for the KHR characters.

So, since this is a fanfic, I must put up a **DISCLAIMER**, claiming that I do not own nor make a profit off of these characters. In fact, the only ones that are mine are the Oc's .

Also I'd like to issue a warning. I have not yet worked with half of these characters and therefore I'm not entirely sure that they're going to be perfectly IC. But I assure you I'm trying my best to keep them IC.

And now, without further ado, I present to you the intro and the first oneshot!

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~~** Intro~~**

"What's this?" a brown haired boy asked as his shaking hands reached for the knot tied at his throat before he tried adjusting it so that it wasn't so hard to breathe, but the adjustment did nothing to help.

His tutor, a baby with bizarre connections to the mafia, had been keeping him in the dark since last week. Of course when was Reborn ever not hiding something or other from him?

There was some big event that was to take place tonight, that much he had picked up from the small slips that Gokudera made and tried to cover up, and the snippets of conversation he overheard when coming into the room after he had left his small tutor and his friends alone. Something was up and Reborn had already somehow gotten Yamamoto and Gokudera in on whatever it was.

"Tonight, you have thrown a party for your allies and their families to thank them for their loyalty and assistance in the past and, to encourage them to stay on your side." Reborn explained as they walked down the street. Getting out of the house in such formalwear had been quite difficult and now he was at the mercy of Reborn, as pleasant as that sounded.

"I am?" Tsuna asked deciding that explained the formal wear.

"Yes. And sometime before midnight, you are going to be making a speech and formally thank everyone for not only coming but also for being your allies." Reborn looked up at his young student to see wide, golden eyes looking down at him filled with worry so legible it was almost funny.

"What?! I-I am?!" Tsuna exclaimed, audibly gulping, beads of sweat building at his temple.

"Yes. I'll be there all night and if you decide not to make the speech, you're not going to like the consequences." To say that he had planned several punishments for Tsuna and his family was an understatement. It was his student's choice to get on that stage or to face the consequences, and he was hoping that Tsuna would make the right decision.

After several long minutes of silence, Tsuna looked down at his tutor and managed to ask the question that had been pushed to the back of his mind when he was told he was going to have to make a speech. "W-who all is going to be there?"

Reborn smiled. Knowing Tsuna, knowing exactly who it was he was talking to so formally wasn't going to help his nerves. Regardless, he answered the obviously nervous boy.

When Tsuna heard of just how many people he was going to have to address, how many pairs of eyes he was going to have on him, watching him make a fool of himself, Tsuna broke out in a cold sweat. His palms were clammy, sweat trickled down his temple, and he could swear that the tie around his neck was getting tighter and tighter the closer they got to their destination.

The silence drew on.

The walk continued on and on.

The sidewalk stretched on forever before them, and the building at the end of the street seemed so large, so imposing. All that was missing was the creepy trees, the black storm clouds and the jagged forks of lightning. Even though he knew that the building was filled with his friends, Tsuna couldn't help but want to run the opposite direction.

The only thing that stopped him was the baby at his side, the conductor of this torture.

Knowingly, he kept Tsuna grounded; at least it kept him from running from his fear. Even though Tsuna didn't know it, Reborn did not do things that were not in his students best interest.

* * *

**~~LAMBO~~**

A forest of moving legs was impossible to move through, they were packed too close together. The dress that she had been forced into was itchier than poison ivy, the shoes pinched her small feet and a cemetary would be more fun than this stupid place.

Who had even thrown such a stupid party?

"Play with me." She begged fisting a hand in black fabric and then tugging on it to get the person's attention. The dark haired person, red eyed person who gave her the attention she sought, glared so meanly that she instantly let go of the his slacks and shied away, bumping into yet another dark haired person.

Only the second guy smiled down at her, so she reached up and opened and closed her hands, a silent demand to be lifted up off the ground. To her surprise, he bent down, wrapped his arms around her sides and plucked her from the ground like that dandelion she had wished on earlier that day.

So far her wish hadn't come true. She had been forced into coming to this stupid party because she was 'only six and couldn't be left alone', that's what Leah had told her anyways.

"Hey there." The boy greeted, a stupid smile on his face. "What'cha doin' here? You lost?" He asked like a million questions at the exact same time.

"No!" She frowned at the guy, crossing stubby arms across her flat chest. She was offended, well that was a word that Ana used a lot and that word perfectly described how she currently felt…at least she thought it did. There was no way she was wrong. "For your information, I belong to the Vetto family."

"Aaah, now I remember you." He finally said, his smile remaining on his face, eyes scrunching up with what she believed was embarrassment.

"Of course you do. Only an idiot wouldn't after it's been spelled out for him."

He opened his stupid mouth to give her some kind of answer, but before he could say a word, a voice she knew very well gushed, "I am sooo sorry." As Ana apologized for absolutely nothing, a pair of hands lifted her out of the guys' arms and placed her on the familiar curve of Ana's hip. The boy was one of the Vongola's guardians, she knew that much, but which one, well she didn't quite care to be honest.

Leah had decided to force them to help the Vongola while they were in Japan. She had watched Leah open the letter and then throw it in the trash, and knew that she had never intended on attending this stupid gathering. But when Leon, the Vetto's sun guardian, mysteriously got his hands on the invitation, he had insisted that they go until Leah gave into his constant bothering, a trick Annika knew quite well. And since their boss came, they all had to come.

"No, it's not a problem." He scratched the back of his head, eyes closed, still smiling, only this time at Ana, who was making stupid googly eyes and was smiling at the boy with a smile that was just as stupid as his.

Looking from the Vongola to Ana and back again several times, Annika decided that it was time she left those two alone. If she didn't, scary things might happen, or she'd get to witness some scary things taking place, and she didn't want that.

Somehow, she managed to wiggle and squirm her way out of Ana's grasp and made a speedy get away, dodging between legs, under skirts and even a table before she knew that she had lost Ana.

But now she was faced with the same problem as before.

She needed someone to play with and she was surrounded by strangers.

So she looked around until she saw a white haired boy who looked like he'd be a lot of fun to play with. Wasting no time, she rushed over to him.

"PLAAAAAY WIIIITH MEEEEEEEEE!" Two voices whined at the same time from either side of the silver eyed boy.

Looking down, he saw two brats, one an annoying crybaby named Lambo, the other a little girl that he had never once seen in his life.

He glared down at them, hoping to scare them away, the girl at the very least.

But that did not work at all. Instead, the girl and Lambo simultaneously leaned over. Eyes locked and they silently seized up their competition.

It was just a scrawny boy in a cow suit with hair way puffier than her stupid dress.

It was just a redhead girl in a dress that doubled her size.

"He's going to play with **me**!" She latched onto the guy's leg and refused to let go even as he tried his hardest to detach her.

Why did she have such a strong grip?! Gokudera wondered, mentally cursing, as he tried to shake the girl off of him, and then tried to pull her off of him. Neither worked, the girl didn't budge.

"_**I**_ asked him first!" Lambo exclaimed climbing Gokudera's body and clinging to the side of his head.

"Did _**not**_!" The girl argued, also climbing up Gokudera's body. Only, she clung to his neck, her small hand not pressed against one of his eyes, but both feet scrambling for a foothold, which she found in the form of his breast pocket.

"Did too."

She stuck her tongue out at him and then he returned the gesture. Annika blew a raspberry, and then so did he. Back and forth they went, crossing their eyes, glaring, saying 'yes/no' or 'did not/did too'. After several long minutes of just that, Gokudera all the while trying to get at least one of the brats off of him, they began slapping at each other right in front of his face.

Finally Gokudera had had enough. He grabbed both children by the back of their clothes, ripped them off of him and held each creature at arm's length, glad to have them off and glad that the cat fight stopped.

"Why don't you play with each other?" And, before either could respond, he drop kicked both brats somewhere into the crowd and then went to the refreshment table. They were somebody else's problem now.

Both children landed hard on their butts and sat there, stunned.

That was until Annika said, "Eeeww! Boys have cooties!" She would never play with someone who had cooties.

That caused Lambo to jump to his feet and feign an attack, hands held up as pretend claws, eyes wide and wild, teeth bared at her. "I'm gonna get'cha!" He shouted, and with that he slowly advanced towards her, one stomp at a time. With a shriek, she turned and started running away from the green eyed cow.

They ran around legs, under tables, slipped on the wooden floors and bumped into many things. For what felt like eternity she ran from the boy and the boy chased her giggling like a maniac. But eventually, after all of that running and chasing and fleeing, the pair ran out of energy and they sat next to each other against a rectangular pillar.

Tuckered out they passed a large flat cherry lollipop back and forth. Lambo could only lick one side, Annnika the other. Both had cooties and neither of them wanted said cooties.

"So you're Lambo huh? The Mighty Lightning Guardian of the Vongola who can take down a bazillion men in one strike?" She paused, let him confirm her previous words with a nod of his head, and then she smiled at him, thoroughly impressed. "Wow. Are you going to take out the Great Reborn as well?" Leah absolutely adored Reborn, rather his strength, always aspiring to get stronger so that they could one day fight evenly, or something like that.

Lambo nodded vigorously. One day he would manage to take Reborn down, and that day was soon. He just knew it. "Yup. That's me!"

"You should show me sometimes." Annika muttered. Thoughtlessly he agreed. After all, how could Lambo pass up an opportunity to show off his amazing skills?

"And so you're Annika, The Monster Slayer Ballerina Fighter Girl who can defeat an army with the bat of her eyes?" Lambo asked as she took a lick of her side of the red lollipop.

"You forgot Amazing Beautifully Talented Warrior after the." She glared at him. If he couldn't get it right then they could **not** be anything close to friends.

"Does it matter" He offhandedly asked twisting the lollipop between his hands.

"Of course it does! Does your full title matter?!"

"Well duh." He stuck out his tongue and crossed his eyes as she snatched the sucker out of his hand and took several furious licks.

Noticing that the swirl on his side was now going the opposite direction, he smiled broadly and said, "That's my side."

Instantly Annika dropped the candy and began wiping her tongue with both of her hands, a pained expression on her face as she cleaned her mouth and wailed, "NOOOOO! COOTIES! I HAVE THE COOTIES!"

The Amazing Lambo just laughed at his newfound friend, so much that he was crying and had lost his balance, fallen backwards and was now rolling on the floor. Her face was just too funny.

His laughter, however, made the girl mad, so she tackled the rolling boy and rubbed her wet hands all over his face until she was sure he knew that she was no longer the only infected one. He managed to wiggle free, scramble to his feet and take off running, the girl, Annika, hot on his heels, much to his dismay.

Once again their cootie chase took off, this time the roles reversed.

Lambo could only stand being chased for so long. And when he was fed up with being the terrorized and not the terrorizer, he rolled his eyes to the back of his head, let his tongue hang from his mouth and turned around, reaching for, and pulling something from his hair before he pulled the trigger.

A bullet exploded out of the barrel of the bazooka. Only before it hit her, she lunged and tackled Lambo to the floor, squashing the bullet between their bodies.

When the thick, white cloud dissipated, a boy in an open, cow printed shirt, and a girl in just a towel lay atop each other, their long limbs tangled together. The boy, instantly recognizing the head of red above him, smiled. Not because a nearly naked girl was on top of him, but, because his old friend Annika was here in the flesh and it had been oh so long since they had last seen each other.

"It's been a while huh?" He asked the madly blushing girl who had rolled off of him as he got to his feet. Once there, he offered a hand and helped her to her's.

She reached forwards, grabbed two fistfuls of his stupid cow shirt and pulled him so close that their noses almost touched. "What. The. Hell. Did. You. Do?" She seethed. In her eyes danced a dangerous kind of furry.

But he just scratched the back of his head and then apologized before explaining the ten year bazooka to her. "We have less than five minutes now." He concluded with a heavy sigh and a frown. Leave it to his five year old self to blast him into an important part of his past.

He remembered this place well. He had only been five, but the memory was crystal clear. This was where he had first met Annika.

"And?" She haughtily asked, hands on her hips, seeming unconcerned with the fact that she was in only a fluffy white towel and was dripping all over the floor, creating a pool beneath her.

"You know I'd like to hang out with you sometime."

She scoffed at his words. "As if I'd go all the way to Japan to see your ugly mug. And besides, all we do is fight. I'm not going all the way across the world just to fight with you. It's not like you're that strong anywaysl."

Undeterred, he tried again. "At least entertain the thought. We always have fun when we're together." True they did fight, but there were some good times between those meaningless fights. Two visits in the span of ten years was not near enough to determine that they shouldn't hang out, that if they did it would only be wasted time.

She managed a small smile that she tried to hide by ducking as she tucked a strand of wet hair behind her ear. Toeing the ground she said nothing, not even to dispute his words.

"Lollipop?" He asked breaking the silence and holding a large, flat sucker out for her to take. He had gotten the strangest craving for a cherry sucker and had just left the store when he was brought back to the past.

She gave him this look, unable to believe him. But, then she rolled her eyes, reached out for her favorite candy. And as she took it from his hand and offered him a smile of gratitude, they returned to their time and respective places. Lambo to the sidewalk in front of the candy store, Annika to her steamy bathroom, the large red sucker in her hand the only evidence that she hadn't been dreaming

The cherry flavored candy made her smile. Maybe a trip to Japan was in store after all.

Lambo had a good feeling as he unwrapped a small cherry sucker, stuck it in his mouth and then stuck his hands into his pockets and continued on his way.

"What did you do to me you stupid cow?!" The little red haired girl shrieked, grabbing the young Lambo by the front of his suit and pulling him close.

"I have cooties you know." He giggled like a maniac, a ring of rainbow around his mouth, his hands sticky and equally as colorful.

For the last five minutes she had been in some strange place with no one around, not even Ana or Leah or Leo. And after discovering that she was alone, she had felt so helpless that the only thing she could do was sit down and let the tears stream down her face as she cried for her boss or her sister. But from the looks of it, Lambo had a grand old time in a candy shop!

"By time I'm done with you, I won't have to worry about that." She growled.

It wasn't fair that he went to somewhere with candy and she ended up alone!

Before she could punch him however, he reached into his hair, pulled something out and tried forcing it into her mouth. Instantly she let go, pulled it out and examined it. She was about to throw it back at him and yell that she didn't want it, but seeing what it was, she decided against it.

"You have ten seconds to explain to me what you shot me with and why I was in a strange place." And with that she unwrapped the sucker and started happily licking it.

Lambo rushed to explain.

And when he was done, he fell to his knees, folded his little hands together and began begging for his life. Annika let him cry and carry on for at least five minutes.

But after tiring of hearing his silly, rather stupid pleas, she grabbed the stupid cow and dragged him somewhere they wouldn't be trampled, stuck the stem of the lollipop between his clasped hands, and with her hands on her hips, said, "I'll spare you for now Mighty Lightning Guardian of the Vongola. But, in the future, remember my kindness."

When all he did was nod, she plopped down next to him and they began talking and playing civilly.

But all good things must come to an end. And so after a mere thirty minutes, they were at it again, chasing each other around, howling about cooties.

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**A/n:** I am quite anxious to hear what you guys think. Please I would love to hear your opinions.

**NEXT UP IS:** Squalo


	2. Squalo

**~~SQUALO~~**

"So did Boss say we could leave early?" A blonde haired girl asked, arms folded across her small chest, all her weight on her left leg, her hip jutted out and, a look of pure annoyance on her face. But, before the approaching white haired man could utter even a sound, she added, "I mean Bel just entered the bathroom with some poor girl. God knows what Leviathan is doing, hell, I haven't seen Mammon since we got here and I'm pretty sure Lussuria is making some blonde twit from the Vetto family feel mighty uncomfortable. And Boss, what is he even doing?" The point that she was trying to make, was that they did not need to be here, that they were just wasting their time.

"Getting some fresh air." Squalo interrupted the girl who obviously didn't want to be here. But she wasn't the only one. Oh no, he had much better things to be doing than attending this lame ass party thrown by the weak ass little Vongola Boss who had somehow managed to beat Xanxus and claim the title. In fact, Squalo would much rather be maintaining his swords, training hard, finding worthy opponents to beat or going on some mission.

Fortunately he wasn't having to deal with Xanxus' tantrums or trying to do damage control. But even then, he had better things to be doing, just as the girl before him.

"Then we're not leaving are we?" She asked with a heavy sigh, her arms dropping to her sides as she straightened up. Good thing she did because it wasn't good to stand like that.

"No. We're fucking stuck here for a while longer Ezaria!" He shouted at her.

She just rolled her eyes. Boss could be so unreasonable sometimes. And Squalo, well he was almost always this loud. Good thing his voice was slightly muted by the loud chatter and the underlying music that surrounded them. Of course eyes turned and people still stared at them, but what was new?

"In that case shouldn't we be concerned about the girl Bel entered the bathroom with?" The blonde girl asked, twisting around to toss the bathroom door a glance. They all knew that if there was one thing that Belphegor liked more than playing prince and annoying the shit out of everyone, it was pressing the blade of his knives against flesh and then slashing into it. He loved the effect his knives had on people and that girl was as good as dead. And as much as it wasn't her problem, she didn't want to be the one cleaning up the mess.

"Did she go with him of her own violation?" He asked. It wasn't his problem. Bel could answer to a none too happy Xanxus if he wanted to make messes and kill people who weren't on the hit list.

Her brow furrowed and she had to think a second to make sure she got her story straight. "Uh yeah, actually, I think so."

"Then that's not our fucking problem!" He grumbled. If she went into the bathroom of her own free will, and Belphegor hadn't forced her to do anything, then what happened behind that door was between her and Bel.

She looked around, trying to think of something to say because she found it rather awkward to just stand there and stare at Squalo, or avoid staring at him too much. Usually they'd be sparing when they were together, that or eating or going on a mission.

Well, Squalo would attack and she would just barely dodge or block, she almost never got the chance to counter, she wasn't that good, not yet at least. But this was no place to spar and mentioning all of the things they could be doing probably wasn't the best of ideas, after all, neither of them wanted to be there and they were making the fact well known to those around them.

No one dared approach them and if either met eyes with someone, they quickly ducked their heads or looked away. Whenever they did that, they couldn't help the thought that followed; weakling.

Evenutally Ezaria rubbed her upper arm and asked, "Soooo? How's the food here?"

"Don't bother." Squalo grumbled shaking his head. He knew what she was trying to do, it was one of her many quirks. She wasn't fond of silences between two people, and so she tried to fill those silences with the drawn out word 'so' and then the most random of questions. Not only that, but the food wasn't worth giving a try, he should have known.

"Ok then," She clapped her hands in front of her, "I guess I'm going to find Dino." She had heard that he was here and if she found him, then maybe the Vongola's lame gathering would brighten up if only a bit.

Almost too quickly Squalo said, "He's busy."

Already starting to leave, she stopped, noting the sharp response. Raising an eyebrow she questioned Squalo, "With?"

"Cinzia." That's all that needed to be said.

That made Ezaria face Squalo, putting a stop to her plan before it could even be put into action. Cinzia was an old friend from mafia school, just like Dino and Squalo. Her and Squalo used to torment the pair about how they were a good couple, or that they should get together. But they always claimed that they were 'just friends'. When the four of them went out together or decided to hang at someone's place, Squalo and her tended to ditch Dino and Cinzia, deeming their 'alone time' essential to them actually getting together like they 'just knew' was going to happen.

And from the sounds of it, the two were making contact, meaning that maybe; just maybe the two of them would get together already. So she wasn't about to interrupt those two.

But regardless she couldn't help but say, "Well that sucks." And now she was back at square one.

"Well while we're here, why don't we make the best of it?" The white haired swordsman asked the disappointed blonde. They were here to stay until the party ended, and if he didn't want Ezaria moping about, asking her questiones ever few minutes, they'd have to find something to do that did not include swords in crowded places. This was his best efforts.

"Are you asking me to dance?" Brown eyes looked from his extended hand, to his eyes and back again several times in astonishment, a small smile curling up the corners of her mouth.

"VOOOIII! Of course not. I'm fucking suggesting that we work on our damn footwork!" He exclaimed with a frown and narrowed eyes, though he didn't move his still extended hand. He was expecting her to accept the invitation and place her hand in his.

Because once, Ezaria had made the mistake of comparing swordsmanship to dancing, with the only difference being the blade, or blades in hand, and the intent to kill. At the time, he had chewed her out. Swordsmanship was nothing like dancing; sure it had fluid movements, required time and practice and had different styles, but the two activities were still nothing alike. Even now, as he drew on the reference to give them something to do, he did not like the analogy, but he was grateful for it.

Her eyes lit up with what he perceived to be understanding of not only the situation but of his intentions as she said, "Yes! What a brilliant idea." As she spoke, she put her hand in his and they proceeded to 'work on their footwork'.

Needless to say, the practicing didn't go as planned. But that didn't stop the pair from trying, tripping and falling and, of course, yelling obscenities at each other until their voices were hoarse.

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**A/N:** I would greatly appreciate a few reviews. I don't think I'll update unless I get a few.

Also, I'm not too keen on the title so it's more than likely to change another few times until I find something that I'm happy with. I'm sorry.

**NEXT UP IS:** Enma


	3. Enma

**~~ENMA~~**

She would hate him before the night was over, he was more than sure of it.

Since they had started talking, he had been hiding a secret from Yuzuki, going to great lengths to make sure that she didn't find out. He didn't want her to find out for several reasons, the main two being that he was protecting her. Because the less she knew, the better off she'd be if anything involving his family happened. The other reason was because he was also afraid of the consequences of his secret being revealed.

Yuzuki was not someone Enma wished to lose.

The slouching redhead let out a heavy sigh and slumped even farther down on the park bench. He sat in gloomy wait, Yuzuki having supposed to meet him fifteen minutes ago. The more time he had to himself, the more time he had to deliberate sharing his secret and thinking about how much she was going to hate him, how she was going to react and how his life was going to change because he couldn't keep the secret much longer even if he wanted to.

But, before he could get much farther, labored breathing and heavy footsteps approached. He didn't look up, in case it was just a late night jogger heading towards him. However, the footsteps slowed to a stop just before they reached him. Cautiously, his eyes flicked upwards and he saw a silver haired girl standing to his side, her chest heaving, her hand over her sure to be racing heart.

"I-I am…so, so…sor-ry Enma." She panted.

Truly she was. She had run all the way here because she had lost track of time while doing her homework.

After accepting the apology he said, "Yuzuki, I have something I need to tell you."

Worry settled on her features like birds into a tree, and lingered there as she slowly took a seat next to Enma. "Is anything the matter?" She angled herself so that she was facing him, their knees only inches apart. When he didn't budge she couldn't help but internally smile because she could still remember the time when he would have shied away or would have been visibly uncomfortable with their close proximity.

Enma bit his lip. So badly he wanted to tell her. Yet, he didn't. He was unsure and afraid.

"Hey," She gingerly put a hand on his shoulder and said, "You know whatever it is, I'm not going anywhere right?"

"Even if I told you told you that I am a mafia boss?" He bluntly questioned. There, it was out, his secret was out of his mind, off of his tongue, and in the air between them. And even though that had been easy, he knew the worse was still to come, he could feel it.

She didn't hesitate in responding, saying, "It only matters who you are, not what you are."

A lot of people called Enma a loser, so much so that he had come to believing their words. He had no self-worth because everyone walked all over and bullied him. And she could remember how adamant he had been about her not even being seen with him because he was concerned about her and her safety, and she was that they had come this far. But, it was clear that they had farther to go.

"Do you not hate me now?" He asked with disbelief so obvious in his voice.

"No. No, Enma, I could never hate you." Beneath his shy, introverted and, rather gloomy personality, he was quite a sweet boy, always concerned about what would happen if she were associated with 'the loser'. Somehow he always ended up at her house when something was troubling him, when he had something on his mind, something he needed to get off of his chest.

She remembered how hard she had worked just to get his attention and how much harder she had worked, how much time that had to be invested in order to gain his trust and it would take a lot to shake that hard earned trust. And something as small as being a mafia boss wouldn't make her consider betraying that trust, not even for a second.

But she didn't know of what he had done. Yuzuki didn't know that he had attacked one of his only friends because of a big misunderstanding.

And so, before he could bite his tongue and keep the floodgates closed, he told her of his sins and exactly what it would mean to stay by his side. Before she decided to stay he wanted her to fully know and understand what she was getting into by accepting his invitation to Tsuna's allies gathering. By doing so, she would be entering a dark world filled with death and danger, people could try to use her to get to him. So he told her everything because he didn't want Yuzuki to make the wrong decision and end up regretting the choice she made.

When he was done, he waited for rejecting, because truth be told it was a miracle that she hadn't up and left yet. He was still expecting for her to get up, to storm away from him and to never come back.

But, none of that happened.

Instead, her tanned arms wrapped around him and pulled him close. A quiet voice muttering, "Oh Enma, you silly, silly boy. I'd go to the ends of the world for you." As she spoke she stroked the back of his head. Pulling away and holding him at arms-length, Yuzuki added, "If it's me getting hurt or killed that you're worried about, then I will learn how to fight for myself, I'll learn self-defense or learn how to wield a weapon of sorts."

Nothing short of astounded the word, "How?", slipped off of his tongue before he could stop it. But he just couldn't understand what was going on. How had someone so wonderful found him? How could she consider not running away?

"Remember that story about that one guy who went to the underworld to retrieve his beloved?" Yuzuki asked, not as randomly as it seemed. She had a reason for mentioning the story.

Confused however, Enma just nodded.

If he remembered correctly, the guy she was referring to was Orpheus, a guy who had gone into the underworld, struck a deal with the god of the underworld, Hades, to get his beloved back. And once he was out of the underworld, Orpheus turned around, too excited to wait another second to see his beloved. However, she had not yet been in the clear and before they could embrace each other, before he could hold her, she was gone. After that, he was unable to get back into the underworld.

But, Enma didn't understand why it was Yuzuki was mentioning the story at this time, unless she was saying that he would fail at bringing her into the mafia world safely and that she would return to the world they were now in with only a quiet farewell. At that thought, Enma's heart constricted. He did not want to be like Orpheus, he did not want to lose someone who meant so much to him.

"Well, you won't have to look back to make sure that I'm still there, because I'll be right by your side, no matter what." Yuzuki rushed, the worry, the fear, the pain, written so plainly on his face.

Silence then hung between the pair as Enma slowly wrapped his arms around Yuzuki and slowly brought her into a hug, relief flooding through him, soothing his fearful heart. For a long while they just sat on the bench, embracing each other, not a word being spoken, the sounds of the breezy night chiming around them, a whispered lullaby.

Eventually, he was able to manage two meager words, "Thank you."

Again the silence enveloped the pair, the world continued spinning around them until the question burning at the back of her mind burned so badly that she could no longer hold it back. Regretfully she had to pull away from Enma's tentative hug, she wanted to see his eyes, look into his rather innocent soul when she ridded herself of the thing burning at her thoughts. "May I ask you a question?"

Dread suddenly began clawing its way up his throat. Like Orpheus, he had thought that he was in the clear, that it was ok to turn around. But, maybe Yuzuki hadn't yet left the cavern, maybe she would disappear even though they were so close.

Even though he wanted to say no, to deny her the right to speak, to ask her question, he gave her the ok.

"Why bring this up now?" She didn't understand what the big deal was. Why did she have to know this to go to Tsuna's party? Tsuna was a good kid, very much like Enma, yet very different, and she trusted that if he was throwing a party, then it wasn't going to be anything big, anything illegal or filled with those of 'the wrong crowd'.

Seeing this, Enma explained to her what Tsuna's gathering really was, and that they were going because Tsuna had invited him and that in turn he was inviting her because he wouldn't want to go with anyone else.

"I understand." She smiled when he was done explaining and then got to her feet.

Despite everything she had said, he still expected her to slip back into the mundane world she knew so well and bid him farewell. But, she only held her hand out for him to take and said, "What are we waiting for? I'm sure Tsuna is waiting for us."

Mustering up a smile, Enma placed his hand in hers and stood as well.

As they walked, hand in hand, she told him another story, as she so often did. Sometimes her stories were real, other times they were of the ancient myths she adored so much, sometimes stories right out of her head and other times dreams that she converted into a story. But, this one was about a goddess and a god whose love got them banished to the sun and to the moon so that they would never be able to see each other except on certain days.

Half way through her story, a question popped into Enma's mind, and so, quietly interrupting, he asked, "Are you afraid?"

She took a moment to think her answer through. "Even though I know I should be, I'm not. Though I am nervous about learning how to wield a weapon or having to fight anyone, I am not scared because you'll be there for me." Yuzuki offered the adorable redhead a smile and the walk continued in silence. Later, Enma would ask her to complete the story, he wanted to know what would happen after they were banished to their respective places, but for now they were left to their own devices.

Yuzuki wouldn't believe that Tsuna and Enma were mafia bosses with families, enemies and allies. And now, she was going to be a part of that world. She wasn't sure she was ready, but ready or not, it was happening. Ready or not, she would take what was thrown at her and she would not run. She would not be so unkind to Enma that she would go back on his word. Because hard earned trust was not something that you wanted to betray.

Yuzuki didn't hate him, it was nothing short of a miracle. And she wanted to be a part of his world, and because she wanted it, because she was willing to try it, because they were close friends, he would try his hardest to make sure that she did not get hurt, that he wouldn't look back and send her fleeing. After all he did not want to live out the rest of his days without Yuzuki as Orpheus did without his beloved because they had been ready while the ones they held dear had not yet been in the clear.

* * *

**A/N:** I would greatly appreciate a few reviews, your opinions, some feedback, please *gives you puppy dog eyes*

Also, I'm not too keen on the title so it's more than likely to change another few times until I find something that I'm happy with. I'm sorry.

**NEXT UP IS:** Ryohei


	4. Ryohei

**~~Ryohei~~**

"WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE TO THE EXTREME!" A white haired boy shouted at the top of his lungs, shrugging on his dress shirt as he ran. Beside him, ran a black haired girl who was struggling to keep up as she pulled a dress over her head.

"I'm sorry." She grumbled, head popping out of the top of the dress.

Reborn had stressed that they not only be punctual, but also presentable, which was extremely hard when your match had run late and as you were running towards Tsuna's allies event, tried fixing yourself up and making yourself look presentable.

"That idiot just wouldn't stay down!" The girl exclaimed, anger returning to her tone. Half way through the match, Ryohei had started telling her that it was time to go. But, the harder she tried to wrap up the match, the harder her opponent fought.

Yes, she had been roped into boxing even though it wasn't her passion. Yes, they were running towards Tsuna's event fresh from their matches. No, there had been no time for a shower. And yes, they were in fact running very late.

"Don't apologize. He was a tough opponent." Ryohei offered the girl a smile.

"Not tough, just persistent." She corrected, pausing to take off her basketball shorts, the bright red just barely visible under the knee length purple and black dress. As she caught up with Ryohei, she shoved the pants into the messenger bag slung across her body, and then pulled out a brush.

"Very admirable." He thoughtfully replied. "We should recruit him!" In his eyes, bright stars shone, as though he thought that was the best idea ever.

However, by recruit, the white haired boxer meant stalk, pester and challenge until they were suckered until joining his boxing club, well that's the story of how he got her to join anyways. Of course he's probably just bother them until they either gave in or beat him up in annoyance, or tried to at least.

"I think he's pretty loyal to his gym Ryo. Didn't you see that tattoo across his chest?" She pointed out out. The place of the gathering had better have refreshments, of not that then at least a water fountain or a soda machine.

"We should still try."

Shaking her head and sighing she said, "No Ryohei." She was speaking from experience. Once, and only once, had she gone on one of his recruiting missions and refused to let him to on another one alone because he had bitten off more than he could chew.

Ryohei is quite honorable, fighting his opponent one on one like he does in the ring. However, not everyone plays by those rules. In fact, he had told her to stay out of the fight even though it was him versus five other guys. And at first, she had been stupid enough to obey, but after one of the fools pulled a knife, another, a gun, she had to get involved. See her passion wasn't boxing, but martial arts and they came in handy then and in several other circumstances.

Together, they had spent the following week in the hospital.

The pair rounded a corner, rather skidded around it, Akari tripping over her own feet and falling to the ground as she strived to catch up with Ryohei, who was at least two strides ahead of her. When she fell, she got right up and continued on, hardly feeling the stinging sensation on her palms and knees, or the feeling of sticky liquid rolling down her leg.

They came to a complete stop just outside of the doors, breathing heavily because the ring was at least four miles away and they had been tired before they started running the entire way. Neither of them would dare enter the building if they did not look presentable, or thought that they would not pass as so, so she asked, "Oi! Do I look alright?"

Alright meant that her looks were passable, because if she recalled correctly, Reborn had threatened them. If they weren't presentable, they were going to die…or something like that. And so they had ran like bats out of hell.

He quickly looked his partner in crime over, and then nodded. "You're bleeding." He pointed out. Other than that, she looked fine. Presentable enough to not get killed. Akari was not the type to dress up, actually, this was his first time seeing her around a dress, let alone in one. Black combat boots covered her feet, there was not an ounce of makeup on her face and she had forming bruises all over her body, maybe wearing a sleeveless dress wasn't the best of ideas, but it was too late now.

Akari let out a quiet cruse but decided that she could pretend to have not noticed the scrape if asked about it. They didn't have band aids, or anything to use to cover the wound. "Well, if you were wondering, you look good as well."

He nodded and as they pushed open the doors, she murmured, "We are so dead."

"TO THE EXTREME!" He shouted his agreement.

Compared to everyone else, the pair was underdressed, however presentable they thought they were. Akair, in her casual dress, Ryohei in his boxing shorts, a white button up shirt and black jacket. Fishing around in her bag, Akari finally pulled out the thing that was missing and handed it to Ryohei. Quickly, he tied it into something that hopefully resembled a bow.

They looked ridiculous, and they both knew it but they had tried their hardest to look presentable.

A screeching noise had the crowd cringing and shrinking back, though it brought everyone's attention to the boy standing awkwardly at the center of the stage.

The only thing between Tsuna and the crowd was the microphone and its stand. A sea of people stretched out before him and he knew that he had everyone's attention. Off to his left Reborn stood, watching him with rapt attention, a small smile on his face.

"U-uh…h-he-good e-evening." He somehow managed to stammer out, as he nervously tugged at his collar. If he didn't have everyone's attention after that ear slitting screech, than he definitely had it now. He looked over at Reborn, golden eyes questioning if he could be done now, because he very obviously didn't want to be upon the stage with everyone's eyes on him.

"WHOOO! YEAH TSUNA!" Akari shouted, her voice carrying all the way to the front of the large room and reaching Tsuna's ears. "WE LOVE YOU TSUNA!" She cheered, jumping and waving at the boy, a huge smile on her face.

"TO THE EXTREME!" Ryohei shouted, punching the air above his head, an equally large smile on his face.

"Yeah!" She gave Tsuna a two finger salute and then punched the air just like Ryohei had. Another shout and a fist pump reached Tsuna's ears, it was Gokudera, followed by Dino and a girl who stood next to Enma.

Tsuna looked embarrassed at the encouragement and the support of his friends, but, proceeded to thank everyone for coming and then got the heck off that stage hoping that his little speech was acceptable in Reborn's eyes.

The music started up again and the socializing resumed.

Crowded places weren't her scene, unless she was in a ring, beating opponents and the crowd surrounded the ring. But here, there was no ring, so Akari turned to Ryohei and said, "Hey, I'm leaving M'k?" And with that she started heading for the door, which wasn't too far away.

Before she could get far, he grabbed her upper arm, and as she gave him a confused look said, "No. Don't you want to say hi to Tsuna?"

"Nah. I'll do that tomorrow." She didn't feel like fighting her way to the front of the crowd, and then all the way back to the door. Not only that but she could tease Tsuna tomorrow at school. It would all be in good humor though.

"Alright." He let go of her arm and started forwards.

Only, without thinking, she grabbed his wrist and when he turned around said, "Hey…um…wanna grab a bite to eat and then practice a bit more at my place? There's this move my opponent used that I haven't seen before, I kindda wanna figure it out if you wouldn't mind helping me…" Yes, Akari realized how much her suggestion sounded like a pathetic request for a date, it's just she had grabbed his wrist before she had fully thought things through.

The upcurving of his lips and the baring of his teeth lit up his face. "Sure thing. Just sit tight and let me say hi to Tsuna real quick and then we can be on our way."

Nodding, she let go of Ryohei, took a deep breath and watched him disappear into the crowd.

They both knew that boxing was not her passion, and Ryohei was ok with that, he admired her hard to break will, which was the key to winning. You break their will and you have won the fight. They both knew that boxing was never going to be her passion, but what he didn't know was that somehow the loud, occasionally obnoxious, very forgetful, extremely enthusiastic, white haired boy had wrestled his way into her heart. And so even though boxing wasn't her passion, Ryohei was.

one day she would tell him, or he would figure it out, as unlikely as the later was, but, until then, they would just continue on as they had been.

* * *

**A/N:** I would greatly appreciate a few reviews. Your opinions and feedback are greatly appreciated considering I've never worked with half of these characters. But, I thank you for your views and your favorites and follows.

And thank you to those who have reviewed.

**NEXT UP IS:** Belphegor


	5. Belphegor

**~~Belphegor~~**

(**A/N**: I'm not sure this needs a warning or not…but there's a bit of sadism/masochism in this chapter…so you have been warned)

There was no way she was walking away from this place unscathed. There were too many people that she had to do was rub them the wrong way and they'd be out for blood, if not her life. But it wasn't as though Dalia was looking to leave the place unscathed.

The only reason she had managed to remain unharmed thus far was because the temperamental Xanxus and the noisy Squalo were nowhere to be found and it wasn't as though anyone else piqued her interest, or would give her what she wanted, so she had been left wandering for the past hour or so.

What she didn't know was that a pair of hidden eyes was watching her, had been watching her pick her way through the crowd. He had seen her from across the room, the beginnings of a great romance story, but she was nothing special, having dark hair and eyes, and judging from her complexion, she wasn't Italian or Japanese, and she wore a short, sleeveless dress with combat boots. None of those things were of any interest to The Prince.

No, it was the scars that marred her slightly tanned skin that caught and held his attention. They wound their way up both arms, sprawled across both shoulders and chest, and twisted down both legs. On her face, were two shallow scars. It was obvious by the way she carried herself and by the fact that she wore such revealing clothes, she wore the scars like trophies, she was flaunting them, or so it seemed. And so Belphegor had decided to keep a close eye on the girl because, maybe she could make this gathering worthwhile.

As if suddenly feeling Belphegor's lingering stare, she looked his way. And through the ever moving crowd between them, their gazes locked. Simultaneously, they started towards each other.

The boy wasn't very threating nor imposing in appearance, with blond hair, a tiara and a white suit, but he had an air about him and a dangerous grin on his face that reeled her in.

Like he had taken interest in him, she appeared to have taken interest in him, and that made the blond boy smile. The time of merely watching the girl was over and The Prince couldn't have been happier.

When the pair finally met amongst the crowd, Belphegor offered her a hand and asked if she would like to dance, even though the question was presented in a way that made it a demand. But he was a prince, and she would not refuse him.

She could not refuse him.

With a coy smile, she gave into his demand, and allowed him to pull her close, put his hand on the curve of her waist and then take the lead.

Dalia knew who her partner was and it so happened to be the Varia's very own Prince the Ripper, otherwise known as Belphegor. He would do just as handsomely as Squalo or Xanxus, yes he would.

The fact that his straight, blond hair covered his eyes did not unsettle her as it did most people, neither did his broad, dangerous smile. In fact, both thrilled her in more ways than one.

Belphegor held the girl close, one arm wrapped possessively around her waist, she was his until he was done with her and no one was taking her from him until then, with his other hand holding hers lightly. She could pull away if she wanted, but that wouldn't be a very smart decision on her part. But, she had made not a move to get out of his clutches.

And even though Boss' bitch, Squalo had made a point of yelling at him not to victimize anyone at this gathering, the girl in his arms was giving him silent permission to do just that.

A knife slid out of his sleeve and he began skimming the blade's sharp tip across the unscarred flesh of her bare back. In his arms she shuddered, an expression of pure ecstasy splayed across her face, showing him that she wasn't about to refuse any further advancements he made. Oh no, that look encouraged the Prince, practically begging him to drive the blade through the layers of her delicate skin and to reach into the wells of her veins and draw forth the essence of her life.

Up her shoulders he traced the blade, then the sides of her neck, where the little hairs stood on end and then up her jaw line, just under her ear. He even swirled a design on one cheek, brushed the tip across the bridge of her nose and then swirled another design on the other cheek before trailing the knife down the other side of her neck. In the wake of the knife, goosebumps rose like the dead on Halloween night.

She took a labored breath in and as she exhaled it whispered, "Just what would it take for me to convince you to hurt me?"

He felt her shudder against him once again and could hardly wait to orchestrate the girl's reactions into a beautiful symphony.

With a widening grin, Belphegor stooped down until his mouth was against her ear, into which he gave her the answer in the form of one word, "Beg."

He had to be sure that she wanted it, that he wasn't about to mutilate someone who didn't want to be mutilated. Oh how the girl should feel privileged, because she was the first one to ever have the option. The plain, yet extraordinary girl in his arms had the option, she could stop him with but a mere whisper if she so wished. Not only that, but Belphegor wanted to hear just how much she wanted to be injured, he wanted to be sure that she would not chicken out after he made the first cut, because by then it'd be too late for that.

"Make me forever remember that it was you who gave me more scars. Open my flesh so that it will never close again."

The hand on Belphegor's shoulder slid down his arm and lightly covered the hand that held the throwing knife. With little effort, she guided their hands and the tip of the knife to a clear spot on her opposite arm, where she proceeded to press the sharp blade through the many layers of her arm, dipping the brush into the ink and then drawing it back, in its wake leaving a clean stroke of brilliant red.

"I want you to hurt me Belphegor." She almost seductively whispered.

But before much of a cut could be made, Belphegor took back control of his knife and quietly said, "Let's go somewhere private shall we?" It wasn't a question, rather a test. If she went with him, she would not be able to turn back because he would no longer be able to hold back the urges he had been holding at bay since she sauntered up to him and dared to take his hand.

With a no, and a simile, she allowed him to pull her through the crowd. The blonde pulled her through the threshold of a door that read EMPLOYEES ONLY, after picking the lock with expert skill. Behind her, he slammed the door shut, pushed in the lock and then bolted with a 'click' that made her pulse race, not with fear, but with anticipation.

In the second that followed the resounding click, he was upon her, slamming her small body against the tiled wall, forcing the breath out of her lungs. He couldn't wait to have her wreathing beneath him and his blades.

Placing the tip of the knife against the empty plane of her chest, he leaned in and whispered, "Is my toy going to tell the Prince its name?"

His words swam in and out of her ears, only partially catching because she could hardly concentrate on anything other than the blade pressed against her skin. But after piecing together his question, she said, "D-Dalia."

"And is Dalia ready for what awaits her?" He asked and almost instantly she nodded her head.

The first cut he made was a deep curved line that had the girl digging her nails into his jacket, throwing her head back and letting out a scream that was filled with more than just pain. Above that line, he created three peaks, the middle on taller than the two on either side. Into her chest, just above her heart, was a crudely drawn crown, and whenever she laid eyes upon the carving, she would forever remember who it was who had etched it into her flesh.

Belphegor was a name she would never forget, a face that would never fade from her memory. And if they ever did, his mark would forever remain on her body.

Over her body, he had free reign, she had readily given it over to him. She would let him do whatever he wanted. She loved the way his knives bit into her flesh and parted her skin so that the rivers beneath the surface flooded through the crevices that had been made and ran over dry skin in torrents.

A beautiful sight she was, sprawled out on the grimy checkered floor in a pool of bright crimson.

He sat between her legs, looking down at the masterpiece before him. She was no longer a girl, but instead a work of art. She was an exquisite sight, lying on the floor, her limbs sprawled out, chest heaving, eyes clouded, brilliant red staining everything around her.

The white tiles of the floor were now the color of fall leaves, some a rusty brown, others a bright red. There wasn't an inch of skin that wasn't' smeared with blood or covered in sweat. Over her brown eyes, a misty film had formed, though she was still with him because they tracked his every move, watching the blade's every flick. Her dark hair dripped with sweat and clung desperately to her damp skin or the wet tiles. The dress she wore was stained as well and the makeup she had applied, running down her cheeks.

When Belphegor pushed himself to his feet, the girl let out a strangled cry of disappointment that he couldn't help but chuckle at. One of two things was going to happen now that he had had his fun. One, she was going to bleed out on the bathroom floor, or two, she was going to be found by someone else, but either way, she was now someone else's problem.

His time with his toy had been well spent, it had been quite enjoyable, but now that she was broken, he didn't plan on playing with her any longer.

Through the pounding of blood in her ears and the rapid, shallow breaths of air, Dalia heard the sound of water running and Belphegor talking to her, though what he was saying, she didn't know. Through half lidded eyes she was him move towards the door, his pristine white jacket now soiled with bright splotches of her blood. The knives he had used on her where no longer in sight and the smile that had been on his face as he carved into her skin still remained, even as he looked down at her.

He had run her voice raw, so that it now hurt to talk, but even then, she called out to him, rousing her sleepy, lead laden limbs into slow, sluggish movements.

It was a great struggle to roll over and then push herself to her knees because each movement sent her reeling, and made the room tilt around her. But after the spots cleared most of the way and the room had eased on its spinning, she got to her feet. The pain resounding throughout her body reminded Dalia of why she had been laying so still on the slick floor while Belphegor cut into the skin of her inner thigh. It was as though he did not know what he was doing to her, the effect that particular cut had on her.

She called out his name and hurried towards him, hoping to stop the blond before he opened the door and disappeared. Dalia felt like Alice, the girl who got led into wonderland by the White Rabbit, or in this case Belphegor. And if she took her eyes off of him for even a moment, she would lose him.

As bare feet slipped on a pool of her own blood, she fell into a pair of arms. As they caught her, and then righted her, he said, "I know you don't want to see your Prince leave."

"Y-you're…right" She panted. "I-I want you…to…f-finish what…what you st-started." When it became clear that he didn't know what he was supposed to be finishing in his diminishing smile, she pressed her lips against his, forcing her tongue past his teeth and into his mouth.

The metallic taste of blood exploded across his taste buds, igniting a fire of lust within. Belphegor scraped his clean hands down her wounded back, only to have her arch her body into his and let out a hoarse groan.

Hospital arrest ordered by her too caring boss, Dino, was most definitely in store for Dalia. However every second spent in that damned hospital would be worth it. She would gladly be bore to death with stitches in her skin and Dino lecturing her ears off for this, because even if Belphegor forgets about this night, she would not.

Maybe his toy was not broken after all. He thought as he pushed her against the door. As his mouth trailed down her jaw line and paused at the crook of her neck, where he sucked on the bloody flesh, her knees went weak and the only thing that kept her up was the knee between her legs and the fact that he was trying to press her into the wall. From his back, her hands slid up into his hair and clutched at his golden locks as she threw her head back and let out a groan of pleasure.

* * *

Belphegor adjusted his no longer pure white suit, unlocked the door and walked out, leaving the door ajar. If the girl survived, he might consider seeing his toy once again; after all they both had quite an excellent time. He was confident that she would not refuse another chance to have a good time with her Prince. He was after all a prince; she could not refuse him, even if she wanted to. And with this knowledge, he smiled, his hidden eyes catching sight of Xanxus leaving the building, signifying that it was ok for the rest of them to leave.

Without a word to anyone else, the Varia's storm guardian left the building, leaving his, as of now, broken toy leaning against the wall of the dark bathroom, her head lulled to the side, her legs straightened out before her, one hand across her lap, the other on the floor. In her hand he had left her a little present, one of his throwing knives.

He had a good feeling about seeing her again.

* * *

**A/N:** So I don't really know if that was that bad, but I warned y'all for a reason…I just figured you'd appreciate the warning.

So, anywho, I would greatly appreciate a few reviews. Your opinions and feedback are greatly appreciated considering I've never worked with half of these characters. But, I thank you for your views and your favorites and follows.

NEXT UP IS: Dino


	6. Dino

**~~Dino~~**

"Guess who!" A voice sounded just as his sight was cut off by a pair of hands. A warm, obviously feminine body pressed against his back, the girl on her tiptoes, judging on how wobbly her footing was.

He raked his brains for who it would possibly be. The voice was familiar yes, but, it was not that of which belonged to any of his famigilia. It wasn't either of the Shimon girls, for they were both busy, one with Gokudera, the other with Julie, another Shimon member. There were no girls in the Varia that were present so he was at a loss because the only name that came to mind was Cinzia, but she shouldn't be here because she didn't know Tsuna and had never helped him as far as Dino knew.

In fact, last time he had heard anything about her, she had become the boss of her own famigilia.

But regardless, he went with Cinzia, grabbed the wrists of the person covering his eyes, pulled the hands away from his eyes and turned around, surprised to find the redhead standing behind him, golden eyes narrowed, frown upon her lip.

"I'm offended Dino." She grumbled, pulling her arms out of his grasp and folding them across her chest.

He scratched the back of his head and apologized. It seemed she hadn't changed much in the personality department since they had last seen each other. Physically however, was a different story. Her figure had filled out and she had cut her usually long hair so that it was more of a pixie cut.

"So what are you doing here?" He asked, figuring it was a harmless enough question. Honestly, he didn't know what she was doing at Tsuna's gathering.

Apparently, it wasn't, because she balled her hand into a fist and slammed it into his shoulder. Dino knew better than to dodge because if she missed then she'd be after him until she landed a blow. Plus, her punches weren't too strong; it was her kicks that you had to look out for.

"I was going to stop by for a visit but called Romario to make sure you'd be in town, cuz you never know with you, but I was told you'd be here." She shrugged nonchalantly. "So I sunk in."

Dino doubted Tusna would care if she had walked through the front doors and loudly announced her arrival, like Squalo had done. Even if she had thrown open the doors and exclaimed, "I'm here bitches!" He doubted she'd have even been told to leave, maybe identify herself but that would probably be it.

"Well it's great to see you too. You look wonderful." Dino said with a smile, hoping that made up for the fact that he hadn't been able to identify her by her voice.

"I noticed." She muttered. Dino hadn't been too discreet while checking her out when he turned to face her. She was going to say hi to Squalo and Ezaria, who both ended up in the varia, but those two seemed to be wrapped up in their own little world. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, realizing his mistake.

Placing her hands on his shoulders and looking around at the crowd he had been talking to prior to her interruption, she said, "Sorry ladies and gentlemen, but I am stealing Dino away from you." And with that her hand slid down his arm and wrapped around his wrist before Cinzia pulled him away from the group. As he was whisked away by his friend, he uttered an apology.

"Come on Dance, they're playing music for a reason." Cinzia demanded after they had stopped in a space just large enough for two to fit comfortably. There were people on either side of them chattering or dancing away. She took his hands and started moving her body to the music. "You aren't going to fall flat on your face, I've counted at least one hundred of your men just on the way over to you, so you have nothing to fear. I mean what did you do, bring your entire family with you?"

Dino laughed. "Nah. A few of them had to hold down the fort." Brown eyes watched every movement of his partner as he tried to remember if she used to dance like that. When he couldn't figure it out, he simply asked.

"Of course. You were just too busy kissing the floor and falling on your face to notice. Now come on, loosen up." She made yet another demand.

With about ten more minutes of 'encouragement' from Cinzia, Dino started dancing as well. Well, more like swaying, their hands linked, the space between them ever changing.

"So tell me, how have you been Oh-no?"

That was something he hadn't heard in a long while. Actually, he hadn't been called that since…well since mafia school. They, Squalo, Cinzia and Ezaria came up with the nickname and used to relentlessly tease him about his clumsiness, though he wasn't clumsy things just tended to get in his way or obstruct his path. It wasn't his fault that the cracks in the sidewalks were uneven, or that the chair leg was jutting out too much, or that his shoelaces had become untied, or that absolutely nothing tripped him.

"Pretty good, and you and your family Red?" He asked, his grip on her hands tightening so that she could not throw another punch. Red was something she absolutely hated being called, not just because her hair was red, or because they told her that if she stood on a corner bypassing drivers would mistake her as a stop sign, but because any time someone said something about us being a couple, she'd turn bright red in the face and she hated being reminded of that. So of course, being the great friends they were, they relentlessly teased her about it.

"So you do learn." She grumbled, cheeks glowing red, head ducked, eyes narrowed unhappily.

Dino chuckled.

"It's good to see you Cinzia." He said, forgetting that he had already said as much to her. He was just now realizing how much he had missed the girl.

There was a pause of silence where they just 'danced' but then, as though reading his thoughts, she dropped his hands and as he placed his hands on her waist, she wrapped her arms around his middle and rested her cheek against his shoulder.

There was a long stretch of silence between the two as they swayed an enjoyed each other's company.

Dino hadn't changed much, sure he had gotten taller and she most certainly had not, but that was the only difference. His smile was the same, as was his personality and his mannerisms and his embrace. And for that, she was glad because despite all the time that had passed Oh-no was ok. Dino hadn't been changed for the worst and for that, there were no words to express her joy.

Suddenly overwhelmed with all of the possibly ways that things could have changed, that Dino could have changed, the ways that she could have changed, Cinzia stilled and pressed her face into the crook of his neck, hoping that he would not see the tears of relief streaming down her face.

But he noticed and as he rubbed her back asked, "Hey, what's wrong?" He had heard her ragged breathing and not so well hidden sniffles.

The arms around him tightened, the hands at his back balled into fists and she started sobbing openly into the crook of his neck. "I-I've misses you s-so…much."

She felt ridiculous, standing here in a crowded room, slobbering all over her friend and his dress top like a dog. She felt even worse when he stopped rubbing her back and returned the embrace.

Maybe it was because she was always trying to stay strong that she broke down, or maybe it was because of all the horrible things that could have happened to them, not a single one did and they had, for the most part, they remained the same.

"A-and I'm just so g-glad that you're n-not dead…o-or deranged." Cinzia sniffed noisily. "And you haven't ch-changed a bit you stupid klutz…th-thank you." She knew she was a sight for sore eyes, that she was embarrassing herself and that Dino probably didn't have a clue as to what to say or do. Hell, it was doubtful that he understood a word she had just said.

"Of course I'm not dead…or deranged." Dino said, not quite understanding what was wrong or why she was thanking him.

"I-it's just seven years…" Pulling away from Dino's soaked shoulder, she wiped her eyes. Seven years was a long time to go without seeing or hearing from one of your best friends. Ezaria had made a point of seeking her out a few times and they wrote both snail mail and e-mail. And since her and Squalo were attached at the hip, and obviously so into each other, she had seen and heard from his a few times as well. Dino was always on her mind, but then things popped up and he'd get shoved into the back of her mind and that letter wouldn't get sent, or the order to figure out where he was wasn't given and so he was forgotten for the time being.

"I know. I know." Dino murmured, suddenly understanding Cinzia's uncharacteristic emotional outburst. Now he understood the dead or deranged part at least, a lot of things could have happed but somehow they both seemed to be intact.

As suddenly as she started crying, she roughly shoved Dino away, a frown tugging down the corners of her lips. "No! You don't know! You know guys are supposed to make the first move! You don't seem to know that I've been waiting!" She stood there, her hands clenched into fists at her sides; eyes narrowed staring at a dazed Dino. While the boy in question just stood there, blinking in confusion, trying to process what exactly she had just said.

The silence dragged on and on.

And after a few minutes of a silent stare down, she shook her head and uttered an apology before whirling around and shoving her way through the crowd, aiming for the back door.

God she could not believe she had just said that. Not only had she said it to his face, but there was a crowd! There was a time and place for certain things, and of course she had chosen the wrong time and glace for her round about confession. It should have come as no surprise; she had never had a good grip on her tongue and always said then thought.

Dino stared after the redhead, her words finally sinking in, their meaning registering just as she turned and fled. As she disappeared between a fighting couple and a cluster of chatty cathys, he began giving chase, trying to politely go around people, calling after he as she made his way through the crowd.

He brust forth from the crowded hall and into the clear, cool night, looked both ways and continued running and shouting. He didn't get far before an empty beer bottle tripped him, but he was up and tripping and stumbling after her as though his life depended on it.

Damn heels! Cinzia cursed nearly falling for what felt like the millionth time. Dino was catching up and soon he would catch her, but she couldn't face him now, not after that little episode. So she couldn't stop to take off the heels, he would definitely catch up with her if she were to do that.

Despite his lack of steady footing, Dino was getting closer, close enough that he could reach out and grab her wrist, close enough to stop Cinzia. So he caught her arm and used that as leverage to pull her into him. Thankfully neither went careening into the ground.

"This is so cliché." She muttered, wiping her eyes furiously, not bothering ot struggle against Dino's arms. "I'm so old fashioned." Cinzia couldn't help but laugh almost bitterly at herself. "God, I'm sorry. Can't we just…you know, forget that this happened?"

Dino shook his head. Even if he wanted to, doubted he'd be able to just forget. "No." How was he supposed to know that she had actually had feelings for him? Seven years was a long time, things could have happened, people can meet other people and things can happen. How was he supposed to know that she'd been waiting? That was a bit unfair on her part.

"Why do you torture me so Oh-no?" She muttered.

"I'm sorry I've made you wait so long." He smiled softly at her. "Come on, let's go back in."

"What, not going to play into the cliché? Is an alley way filled with glass, trash and rats not romantic enough for you?" She teased, neither of them making a move towards the buildings back door.

So with that he kissed her. It wasn't their first kiss, there had been plenty of times when their mouths had collided or a cheek or a forehead or something had been kissed since having met each other. But, this was the first purposeful kiss they had shared.

Pulling away from a breathless redhead, Dino saw that she was smiling and he couldn't help but smile in return.

He offered her his elbow and she took it before they started towards the back door, which would have been east to slip through had a certain white haired loud mouth not shouted, "VOOOOIIII! YOU PIECES OF SHIT FINALLY TOGETHER!?" Most of the pairs of eyes watch Tsuna's speech looked towards the back door to see what all of the commotion was about, Tsuna even stopped his speech to stare at the pair.

"Don't mind us!" Cinzia shouted at the golden eyes boy and the crowed before she smiled slyly at her friends and dragged Dino into the crowd before the two could get their claws into them.

The rest of the night was spend avoiding both Squalo and Ezaria, both hell bent on getting a straight answer.

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you so much for reading this series of oneshots. I hope you have enjoyed at least one of them. If you have any requests, I'll be happy to listen and maybe figure out a way to add them if I can.

**NEXT UP IS:** Spanner


	7. Spanner

**~~Spanner~~**

Reaching the bland, iron door of the apartment, the white haired girl let out a heavy sigh and then pushed open the door. A frown tugged down the corners of her mouth when the handle didn't catch and the door opened effortlessly.

He really should lock the damn door.

But, every time she mentioned such things, he countered with 'if someone wanted into their house bad enough they would find a way in regardless of if the door is locked or not'. At that she usually dropped it because it wasn't as though their house wasn't rigged. The lock on the door was not the only security measure that had been taken against people who came uninvited into their house.

So, carefully, she maneuvered her way through the short entrance hallway.

It was good to be home, even if her home was lit only by the sunlight that filtered in through the cracks of the blinds covering the windows. As usual, the place was an absolute mess, but that wasn't going to change any time soon.

She was going to grab a snack from the sparse kitchen; however a sucker and a rather large stack of mail distracted her. So, unwrapping the sucker and picking up the mail, she started to where she knew her genius, something more than just a friend, Spanner was undoubtedly hunched over some kind of device. She had been gone three weeks, so either it had evolved into something unrecognizable, or he was on to something new.

Either way the house was dead silent, only interrupted by her quiet footsteps. Had announcing her arrival not been a futile waste of breath, she would have done so. But some device had been installed to alert Spanner of the activities near all windows and of course the front door (they had no back door to be concerned about), so he knew she was home at last. Not only that, but the blonde would have been too buried within his own work to have heard her.

Hunched over a work bench, tinkering with something of the mechanical kind, was exactly where she found him.

"Would it kill you turn on the lights, or check our mail?" She asked coming to a stop half way between the door and the work bench, a little off to his side.

"No sense in wasting energy or money." He answered. After a second he looked up at her and asked, "How did the glasses work?"

Being visually impaired made you less than desirable when it came to being an assassin for hire, so getting new people interested in hiring her was hard. But, Spanner had crafted these glasses that more than just sharpen Tayrn's vision. He had added thermal and night vision, as well as face recognition. Currently, the glasses were pushed up on her head, as they tended to be when she wasn't on a job.

"Magnificently." This had been her third job with the glasses and the improvement was astronomical.

"Any bugs or malfunctions?" He asked, turning back to the work before him.

"Not a one."

"Good. Tell me if the performance is anything less than perfect. The glasses are still in the beta stage, as you know. Also, if your prescription changes, tell me so I can fix that as well."

The white haired girl nodded, said, "Thanks." And then stood there, sifting through the mail cradled in her arms and watching Spanner work. Eventually though she spoke up, "So did you even leave the house once since I left?"

He thought audibly for a second or two. "Once or twice."

"Well do you think you could drag-well isn't this rather formal looking?" Tayrn murmured pulling out a squarish envelope with a fancy old fashioned red wax seal with the Vongola's crest. On the flip side, a rather delicate hands sprawled out their names.

With mild interest, Spanner turned from his work.

"Can I open it?" A note of eagerness struck her voice, a glint of overwhelming curiosity shining in her blue eyes.

"Can I stop you?" He asked as the seal was broken and the envelope unfolded.

"If you really wanted to you could." That was nothing short of the truth. If Spanner really wanted to do so, he could, and he would.

"Knock yourself out then." He granted her permission to continue, as unnecessary as that was.

Tayrn started reading the cursive aloud, only pausing to giggle after reading the words Vongola Allies Gathering, or abbreviated as, VAG. When she laughed, Spanner couldn't help but roll his eyes at her. For an assassin, she was unbelievably childish.

When she was done reading the very formal letter, she looked up at him with shining eyes and asked, "Are we going?"

"Didn't plan on it." He had made up his mind half way through her reading and had returned to his work, though he was still listening.

"Oh." She frowned, disappointment straining her voice.

The Vongola were a good bunch. Tsuna was so sweet and she hadn't left the best impression on any of them because she had been preoccupied being Byakuran's obedient little assassin.

"Well can we go? It's about time you got out of the house." Careful, as not to sit on his work, Tayrn sat on the edge of his work bench and watched him work away. After a long stretch of silence, and no answer to her question, she whispered the word, "Please."

After another few minutes, just as she was about to slip off of the desk and sulk somewhere within the house, she heard, "When is it?"

The reply was almost instantaneous, "A week from now." A smile grew upon her face. "You have time to come to a good stopping spot too." She threw her arms around his neck, kissed his cheek and then half ran, half danced out of the room.

What she didn't see was Spanner smiling to himself.

It might be stupid to say, but he rather enjoyed making Tayrn happy. With her childish nature, it was never a hard thing to do. The thing was that she never asked for much, never really asked to go anywhere or to do anything.

Sure, she nagged at him to get some fresh air, to leave the house more often, to get some sun or to do something like go to a café with her or watch a movie with her but those were little things that he didn't mind doing every once and a while because he knew that she was only concerned about his health.

Not only that, he would never admit this to himself or even aloud, but he was a sucker for that quiet plea of hers. It got him every time. And he doubted that she had picked up on that yet.

"You won't regret it, I promise." She practically sang as she entered the room, still beaming, two bowls of what he soon found out was ramen, in her hands.

"Oh?" He asked raising an eyebrow, sparing her but a glance.

"Yeah. Shochi's most likely going to be there, so you two can be nerdy together."

"Yeah?" that was certainly something to look forwards to at least. "So are you going to dress up?" He asked, blowing on the ramen and then taking a large bite. The letter had said that this was a formal event and Tayrn was all about blending in being an assassin and all.

"Are you?" She offhandedly shot back.

"Nah. I guess you aren't either." He laughed.

She leaned close and said, "Good guess genius." Just before tapping the blondes nose and pulling away with a playful smile.

* * *

"You know I'd feel a hell of a lot better if I knew that this steel death trap was built by you." Taryn muttered as she caught up with Spanner in the terminal.

"Unless we're high jacked, there is mechanical failure or the pilots are incompetent, untrained-"

"Stop it!" she growled, landing a solid punch to his upper arm.

She may not look it, but she was strong.

"Am I making things worse?" He asked, half teasing, half not.

"You're an idiot." Taryn grumbled, sinking down into the seat, slamming the window's flimsy cover down over the window. She did not want to be reminded of exactly how far the drop down would be.

The plane ride was many hours long, so Spanner had to put up with an anxious assassin the entire time. He told her to sleep, but she refused, saying how she didn't want to be drowsy when the plane went down.

"You know about fifty percent of plane crashes are caused by human error?" Spanner asked. He was getting restless because there wasn't much to do. He couldn't leave Taryn's side because god knew she'd freak out and have some kind of panic attack. So, seated they stayed the entire trip.

In the end the trip was ok, he supposed. The best part however, was getting off. Taryn almost fell to her knees and started kissing the ground when they stepped off of the plane. He had stopped her from embarrassing herself.

As they looked for a taxi he turned to her and said, "You know we have to do that again to get home right?"

"I'm trying not to think of that." She grumbled opening the door of a cab and sliding in, placing her sole bag on her lap. That and the suckers and of course Spanner had been the only things that had kept her sane on that plane trip.

It wasn't that she was afraid of heights, no, both parents had died in two completely unrelated crashes and her brother had died by being a suicide bomber whose plane malfunctioned while training to fly the damned plane. So why would the tradition stop with her older brother? She was next and she knew it, the death of her would be a plane, one way or another. And so she avoided them as best as she could.

"Right." He closed the door, gave the guy the place and off they went.

They rented a hotel room, threw their stuff onto the beds and then headed for Tsuna's gathering on foot. It wasn't close and it wasn't far, however both Spanner and Taryn needed to stretch their limbs.

So they started towards the gathering place.

"Are you nervous?" He asked, hands shoved into his pockets, strides long and almost sauntering beside her short, more rapid strides.

"Why would I be?"

"You almost killed Tsuna and Gokudera and Ryohei and Yamamoto and-"

"I get it!" She shouted at him, glaring icy daggers at him, but he just chuckled.

"You don't think they're just going to let you walk in there do you?"

Her shoulders slumped. "Well I was hoping. I came unarmed for a reason you know."

Spanner nodded. He knew that being weaponless made Taryn almost paranoid even though she could do a great deal of damage, maybe even kill with just her hands and feet. But still, she always felt better with a weapon of any kind. Her ring was at the hotel room, as was he gun and her knives and her retractable bo staff.

"Well we can hope for the best right?" He gave her a sidelong look to see her nod stiffly. Frowning, he reached over and rubbed her shoulder. "It'll be fine. You were invited too you know."

"…Yeah." And with that the rest of the walk was silent.

She laced her fingers with his and they walked with his arm around her shoulders, their hands intertwined, no words needed.

They approached the growing building and when they were at the door, Spanner said, "Don't worry. It'll be fine." ,before he pushed open the door and guided a reluctant Taryn through it.

There weren't a lot of people there, there weren't exactly a few either. Silently, she let go of his hand and slipped through the crowd without so much as a second glance. Spanner decided to find a seat and wait to see if he could find Shoichi.

Approaching a black haired boy, Taryn tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Um, pardon, do you know where I might be able to find Tsunayoshi Sawada?"

When the boy turned around, she saw that it was Yamamoto, the Vongola's rain guardian and her breath caught and her muscles tensed, preparing for a fight despite the smile on the guys face.

"I'm glad you were able to make it."

"Yeah, sorry about the future…" She looked down at the toes of her boots.

"Don't sweat it." The boy laughed, his smile growing even larger. "Speaking of Tsuna, he might be over with Gokudera."

Mentally she groaned. Gokudera, the 'right arm man' of the Vongola 10th, he was not going to be near as forgiving as their rain guardian. But she took a deep breath, bowed to Yamamoto, apologized and then thanked him before straightening up and starting her search for Gokudera, who was probably within the vicinity of Tsuna.

Tsuna was a hard person to find. Taryn stopped several more times to ask of his whereabouts but all that did was lead her in circles and not to the brown haired boy. But, eventually she laid eyes on him through a group of several people and shoved through them, grabbing his shoulder before he could escape her.

The boy let out a startled screech as he whirled around to face the white haired girl. She pressed a finger to his lips and looked worriedly around. The last thing she wanted was a fight and if Gokudera popped up, there would be a fight because he'd jump to the conclusion that she was there to hurt Tsuna, throw bombs or fists and ask questions later.

"Shhhush. I'm not here to kill you." She rushed watching the relief flood his wide, expressive eyes. "I-I'm actually here to-"

An unseen force wrenched her away from Tsuna and shoved her roughly away. That force was known as Gokudera, the storm guardian of the Vongola and he was standing over her, arms crossed, cigarette hanging from his mouth, smoke curling towards the ceiling, frown upon his face.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He growled, ignoring Tsuna who was trying to explain things from the side.

"I don't want any trouble." She managed getting to her feet, bringing her hands up in case she'd have to use them.

But Gokudera wouldn't have it. He would hear it. He wouldn't listen to Tsuna or a single thing she had to say.

He even threw the first punch, causing her to reflexively punch him in the throat.

And thus a fight started. Taryn had to defend herself, she wasn't about to let the boy beat her up, and so in turn, they exchanged blow after blow. Block, counter, dodge, repeat over and over and over until a gunshot was fired that stopped the pair in their tracks, both staring at the source, a baby in a fedora hat with curled sideburns and a smoking gun in his hands.

"Taryn, it's nice to have you." He nodded at the albino girl, who nodded back at him, still on guard.

"YOU MEAN YOU INVITED HER?!" Gokudera shouted angrily at the baby.

"But of course, did she not help you guys fight against Byakuran?"

"NO! She tried to kill us!"

"That's a bit unfair to me!" She shouted at him, blue eyes narrowed.

"It's the truth!"

"I also helped you, or did you forget that part!? I came here to apologize dammit! If you could just shut up for a few fucking minutes you would learn that!"

"Why didn't you just say that?" Gokudera asked stepping back, pulling a lighter and a cigarette from his pocket and then lighting it.

It took all of her self-control to do anything other than turning to Tsuna and bow deeply. "I am truly sorry-"

"P-please, you don't have to do that."

"But I do."

"I've never held it against you. You were just following orders and you helped us out a great deal afterwards." Tsuna said. "Please, stand up." As far as he could see, there was no reason for her to be bowing to him like that.

"Thank you." And with that, she slipped past Reborn and went to find Spanner, a huge weight lifted off her chest.

She found him seated by the front entrance and sank down next to him with a breath of relief, her head thrown back, staring at the ceiling.

"Get what you needed done?"

She nodded.

"Ready to leave?"

"Only if you are." It was unfair to drag Spanner all the way here and then expect him to leave when she was ready to. For all she knew he hadn't yet gotten the chance to see his genius friend Shoichi.

But, but standing and offering her a hand, he answered her question. After a wave to Tsuna, who was stepping onto the stage, they slipped out of the front door and walked to the hotel room they were sharing.

As Spanner pushed the card into the door, she kissed his cheek and uttered a word of thanks before the light turned green and she pushed open the door, ducking inside before she could see his response. Smiling, he followed the girl into the room, the door locking behind the pair.

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you so much for reading this series of oneshots. I hope you have enjoyed at least one of them. If you have any requests, I'll be happy to listen and maybe figure out a way to add them if I can.

**NEXT UP IS:** Shoichi


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